steve.

   Steve had his reservations about Lillian, only in that she seemed more suited to healing than destruction. He’d heard about her work, and seen her enough in passing, but hadn’t seen her fight. Not one-on-one, in a situation where lives depended on their synergy. The mention of how intelligent Ultron was only made Steve scoff, more of a laugh than a disregard of her thoughts.

   “He’s relied on humanity every step of the way, Lillian. People gave him his body, Stark gave him the thoughts, all of it.” There was a pause as he looked her over, as if to further assess her. “The guy can’t be all that smart if he’s out to fight us, either.” Steve couldn’t see this supposed cleverness. All he saw was a series of metal slats, formed into a parody of Stark’s thought process. Worse, of course, without the inhibition and the consideration for life.

   There was no intelligence in cruelty. The concept of elimination as the only way to evolve a species stuck in Steve’s throat, too similar to past conflicts. “You’ll be good; you fight, you do your best, and you keep on the comms with us. That’s all I ask.”

What he said made sense, really. She stared at him with big, confused eyes, nodding to his every word. Yes, Ultron was probably not so intelligent, after all. He was just very lucky. And he had received a lot of indirect help. This was very new to her - computers, technology… mass-murdering robots with a god complex. She was lost, for the first time in her life.

She was taken out of her thoughts again when he told her she’d be good. She straightened her back and nodded firmly. ❝ Yes sir. ❞ She could follow orders. It was already a starting point. ❝ I will do my best. No time for hesitation and for… self-pity. ❞ Another nod followed by a small, assured rictus.